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Keefe Appointed Belfast Giants Head Coach

The Stena Line Belfast Giants are pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Keefe as the organisation’s new Head Coach. Keefe becomes the Giants ninth Head Coach and takes on the role after carrying out the job of Player/Assistant Coach with excellence in the previous two seasons.

Famous for his no-nonsense style of play on the ice and popularity in the locker room as well as with the fans, no player has made an impact on the Giants organisation like Adam Keefe since his arrival back in 2011.

Keefe has played an extensive role in helping the organisation win two of it’s four Elite League championships. The first was in Keefe’s debut season with the Giants in 2011/12 when he was Assistant Captain before clinching the title as Captain in 2013/14 when he led the Giants to a record points total as the team clinched the championship with ten games still remaining.

Keefe captained the Giants from 2012/13 until the most recent season, 2016/17, and during his six seasons in Belfast played in 352 games and posted 56 goals, 78 assists, 134 points as well as 1,082 Penalty Minutes.

Keefe will now begin to assemble the 2017/18 Giants team that will compete on all fronts as the organisation goes in search of their fifth Elite League championship.

Steve Thornton, Head of Hockey Operations:

“I am delighted that Adam accepted the position of Head Coach. Adam understands what it means to be a Giant, what the Giants mean to the community and he is one of the best leaders that I have seen.”

“Coaching is in his bloodlines, this is something that he has been prepping for and he knows what it takes to win in this league which will help him with the transition. We are confident that we have found the right man for the job.”

Adam Keefe, Head Coach:

“I know what the fans and this city expects with regards to trophies. I know what is expected of me and I look forward to the challenge, I would not have it any other way.”

“An Adam Keefe team competes hard every single night. It’s not easy to win in this league and a consistent work ethic will carry us through.”

“I’m a big believer in relentless puck pursuit with fast physical hockey. Years ago our Arena was known as a tough place to come into, teams knew they were going to pay the price when they came here with a hard fought game. I’d like to bring that back and make it tough for teams to come in here and win hockey games.”

*Thanks to Davy McGimpsey from AVFTB for the statistics on Adam Keefe’s career in Belfast.

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Copyright 2016 Belfast Giants. Photographs by PressEye unless otherwise noted. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to belfastgiants.com as the source.